Newsletter - Summer Ablaze

📍 Location: San Jose, CA

This summer ramped up slowly, then became scorching. And that comes with a fire watch warning. 90F/32C isn’t what I would call ideal, especially in dry heat. And a high of 129F at Death Valley is enough to make one wonder. We held a family and friends BBQ earlier this month that was well attended. Even with setting up a canopy for our guests, it remained hot to be around the yard.

Around The Blog

I’ve re-written the home page and main pages of the website. It has more of a feed form factor plus pagination. Also, updated content is now fed back to the top. This helps re-surface curation posts and project updates.

Interwebs Highlights

I liked the new format I started last month of sharing 2 or 3 things I read over the past month, so I’m going to continue having that in the newsletter. Here are two things that have resonated with me.

The True Story of Hushpuppies, a Genuine Carolina Treat by Robert F. Moss. It started with a general curiosity if Confederate soldiers had come up with Hushpuppies, and once you’re in the rabbit hole, you come out understanding the lore.
Consulting Firms Are the Early Winners of the AI Boom. There’s an analogy floating around that you can compare AI to the Internet boom of the 90s. Except there are major differences, mainly cost. Training an AI model takes a lot of compute time, and getting to the next step takes Trillions of dollars. And with that investment, it’s not a given there will be a major difference between the current model and the next one. These consulting firms are selling slightly better workflows, but organizations aren’t getting the 10x delivery they were promised.

Currently Reading

I’ve started reading Frostbite by Nicola Twilley, and it satisfies my curiosity. For example, large refrigeration warehouses is a cryosphere. Many people who start working in it quit before the end of the day due to the cold. And those who do stick it out get all sorts of sicknesses before their body acclimates.

That’s all I have for this month. Stay cool out there, and watch some Olympic sports.

Written by Jeremy Wong and published on Aug 2, 2024, 5:00 PM PDT .

For the newsletter archive, check out Newsletter Series. For this specific series, check out the Newsletter: Season Four .

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